Realistic trade in value?

[m3s_are_crisp]

So I ordered a 2011 E90 M3 a couple weeks ago. It's finished production and is awaiting transport. At the time I ordered the sales guy checked out my current ride, a 2006 330i with about 86000 miles. He came back and said there were a few things wrong: needed a new windshield, new tires, and my drivers seat is cracked. I knew about all of this.

So he come back and says they'll give me $11,000 for my car. KBB has it around $14,000 in good condition on a dealer trade in.

Anyway, I went ahead and replaced the windshield, got new tires, and I'm getting the upholstery fixed this Thursday. When the M3 comes in, am I on crack asking them for $14,000 for trade in or I walk?

[GOLFFRR]

well its hard to say without seeing the car, but you have to remember KBB isn't real market value. Also just bc a car is worth 14k doesn't mean the dealer would give you that. They need to make money on your trade. So if they give you 11k they will be able to have 3k profit range to work with and thats if they run it through the shop and theres nothing wrong with it. But who knows maybe you can get another 500 bucks for doing all the upgrades. Good and congrats on the new M3!

[WillC310]

Yep, KBB is only a guideline, and yes, they will want to make money on your car too. The problem with high mileage cars is that they can't CPO/"recertify" them and sell on the lot. They will need to send them to an auction. If you don't need the trade in for a down payment you can always sell it private party and get the most $ back. Only downside is you'll probably have to deal with 90% retards/feelers and 10% serious buyers.

[Wah]

I don't think I've ever been offered KBB trade in value on a car. Its always been a lot less.

[templarklimek]

trading in your car is ugly. I also have a 11' m3 enroute. I have a 2009 audi
S5 loaded with 9500 miles. They offered me 48,000. Lesson for me, dont switch cars so much.

[blacknbean]

dealers always lowball you on trade-ins. its like double profit for them since they make profit on your car and the new car you are buying. plus most ppl are so bent on getting a new ride they dont care much about thier old car so they give in to the lowball. id stand firm on your price or goto another dealer

[m3s_are_crisp]

Yea that's what I figured. I know KBB isn't the holy grail, but a $3k difference is pretty huge, IMO. If I sold to a private party I could probably get about 15-16. But WillC310 is right, dealing with idiots can be a pain in the ass.

I dumped about $1000 into getting things fixed on my ride. Maybe I shouldn't set my expectations too high and shoot for $13k. I remember the sales guy had a sheet with pricing on all the stuff that needed to be fixed and he had $1800 quoted for replacing the cracked leatherette on both front seats (even though only 1 is cracked). I'm getting it done for $300. Whatever, they're going to try to screw me over any way I look at it.

Thanks for the input.

[Finnegan]

Originally Posted by m3s_are_crisp

Yea that's what I figured. I know KBB isn't the holy grail, but a $3k difference is pretty huge, IMO. If I sold to a private party I could probably get about 15-16. But WillC310 is right, dealing with idiots can be a pain in the ass.

I dumped about $1000 into getting things fixed on my ride. Maybe I shouldn't set my expectations too high and shoot for $13k. I remember the sales guy had a sheet with pricing on all the stuff that needed to be fixed and he had $1800 quoted for replacing the cracked leatherette on both front seats (even though only 1 is cracked). I'm getting it done for $300. Whatever, they're going to try to screw me over any way I look at it.

Thanks for the input.

Why not sell it yourself instead of trading it in? Sure there are idiots, but on the other hand is it worth 3K-4K to go the "easy" route? Give it a shot--if it sucks you can always trade it.

Example: the best trade I could get on our Escape Hybrid (wife's car, which she upgraded to a Z4M) was 13K. Dealers were asking 19k-21k for the same car (same options, year). I sold it for 17K. Delt with one idiot, and one solid buyer. With photos, some detailing, ads, and dealing with potential buyers all of 4 hours of my time. For 1K/hour, that's easy money. If I'd traded it I'd have kissed 4K away--not something that was worth it (hey, that's mod money ).

[RevFreak14]

Probably would have been better off just taking the $11k and be done with it. Would've saved the hassle and a couple of headaches. I tried to sell my first car myself years ago. I will never do it again. I must have taken 8 people on a test drive, answered a million questions, waited for people to come over and see the car only to have them never show up. And then deal with offers of $8 & $9k for a car that was $17k in the blue book. I felt like pulling my hair out before I finally sold it to a guy 3 months after I put it on sale. And then there was issues with the title because typical Miami, he wanted to do some shady stuff and I wanted no part of it. He wound up doing it the right way a week later.

Unless you have a lot of patience, save yourself the aggravation.

[mdosu]

Market value of your car is what is the clearing price on ebay of a comparable car.. I would track a few 330s on ebay and autotrader and see where they're selling at. The market is "illiquid" to an extent, though a 330 is pretty common than what I was selling. (Evo 8) Note, on autotrader, if it's a dealer car, you may need to adjust for about $1000 or what you think their profit is.

All in all, you'll get a better price by selling privately. KBB cannot possibily value the cars correctly, b/c it's an "index". My experience has always been that it's overvalued on KBB.